Friday, February 26, 2010

DISCIPLINE in its best sense means to educate. And to Educate is to bring out of yourself your very best abilities in orderly fashion. There is no lost motion in the action of a well Disciplined army. Every move counts. The wonder of any of our great modern business enterprises is its smooth working Discipline.

Maximum Power demans Maximum Discipline.

To Discipline your will, your Emotions, your Desires is no easy job. To smoe it is a tremendous task. But to the man who through patient and determined effort finally brings his every ability into control and harmony, there is created a momentum that makes the greatest works come easy and enveloped with delight--all of which is the result of Discipline.

Maximum Power demans Maximum Discipline.

Those privilieged with the daily association of President Wilson marvel at the case with which he accomplishes things. There is nothing marvelous about it at all. For a decade or more he has been practicing what he has been teaching--putting Discipline to work daily in his own personal house.

Maximum Power demans Maximum Discipline.

Gather your forces together. Discipline your mind and your body. Do many things each day for no other reason than that you would rather not do them. Draw in the loose cords. Neglect nothing that is important. Put Discipline to work.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Work is a distinctly human thing. The man without Work in in his Soul is an Idler of the worst sort. And this planet begrudges and growls at the space given to him who finds Work a burden.

The Worker is the one who Scores.

True, he is sometimes "out" because of a "cauhgt fly"--but he always has stored away somewhere in the end of his "bat" a few odd "home runs." And it is "home runs" that win the Game of Baseball in Life.

Work gives exercises to both Mind and Body. And it attracts the eye of Opportunity.

But Work without Wisdom--Work without Will--Work wihtout Purpose--is worse than to do no Work at all. Work is for Achievement and for an End that counts as Usefulness.

Work, then, while the blood is warm and the bones are elastic. Work while the muscles are supple and the hear is clear. For there always comes a time when your tools must be set aside and your step will slacken and the messages of your brain will come slow and sluggish and teh day will darken and your life will seem to want to sleep.

Work while yet there is time and inclination and a happy spirit. Work your best this very day.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

It takes a bigger and a better man to build a Home than it does to build a business-no matter what the business. Any man with Brains can build a Business. It takes brains, a heart and a character to Build a Home.

Get Married.

The shrewd business man selects married men for his important positions. He knows that a Married man has something to work for that is worth while. He knows that such a man is steadier and quicker to assume responsibility. He is sure to keep them Firm, Cool and Courageous.

Get Married.

First make yourself worthy of a good Woman. The more worthy you make yourself of her the quicker you will find her. Also, rememeber this-Forms and Faces change and fade-but Minds and Hearts and Characters grow in Lustre and Capacity with the coming on of years. So the big thing to be sure of is the Character and the Capacity. When you find a woman with these qualities-then and there-without fuss or flurry-

Get Married.

And this is what will be revealed to you-the marvelous Mystery of Success. For in it lies the Love of a good Woman interwoven around her inexpensible Inspiration, her constant desire for your highest Achievement and her Pride in everything you do.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The inspiration of Accomplishment is first the inspiration of Necessity. We do things and we do our best things when we are driven to because-we Must. Back of every Fighter and back of every Achiever is this silent little Commander. To cultivate the feeling that you Must do what you Ought to do is to develop the sense of duty-to get habit on your side.

Make yourself Feel that you Must do what you Ought to do.

Cultivate the Must and Ought spirit and you eventually if not immediately call to your side one of the greatest factors in success-Willingness to Act and to Do.

Make yourself Feel that you Must do what you Ought to do.

If you cultivate this feeling you will never canker our Soul nor rot away your initiative. Mixed with the dire necessity will come a dominant feeling of Love for what you do and the dream of a Glory that shall Radiate with Joy and Helpfulness not alone your own life, but that willl give to your Work itself a luster that cannot fail to countless other people.

Make yourself Feel that you Must do what you Ought to do.

Personal satisfaction, even, is little worth while unless cumulative. The man does not live who is wholly selfish. Must drives a man to his job or to his idea, but the fastbreeding germ of Compensation, massing before his eyes, vitalizes a Purpouse and makes it come out to all the world as something for everyone.

Make yourself Feel that you Must do what you Ought to do.

But cultivate a Foundation Must as well as a Superstructure Must. You Must give a certain numberof hours to yourself or your Employer today, but make them hours of Service, not clock watching and the telling off of time to no Results.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Let this signal sign face you as you work your way along. Let it be a warning hand to stay you and save you from the many times of needless stumbling and dire disaster.

Think.

When an emergency faces you-think before you act. Muster with precision the forces needed. Think out clearly and surely the best possible move. Think!

Weigh.

Consider each separate Reason by itself. If it is sound, risk on it. If it is useless of irrelevant-elimintate it. Weigh.

Decide.

After you have clearly thought out your proposition, after you have weighed and considered it from end to end, after you have convinced yourself that you have gathered up every possible thread of evidence-then Decide!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

It has become an old saying that a man-or woman, for that matter-is rarely a notable person in his or her own immediate surrounding. Perhaps I should use the word appreciated, rather than notable, for that is what it amounts to. One can be quite notable and yet little appreciated by those in the same community.

Many characters whose books we have read, or whose deeds have made them famous, might not appeal to us near by as associates and friends, as when known only by reputation. One of the most interesting writers, in my judgment, was the last W. H. Hudson, the beloved writer on nature subjects. He had few close friends, but those were genuine. Even his biographer, Morley Roberts, as well as friend, once wrote to him saying that he did not really know him. This prompted Hudson to reply that the last words of his favorite brother, were these: "Of all people I know, you are the only one I have ever known,"

It is true that we are often better known by those with whom we have not had intimate contact than by our nearest and dearest of kin. The ones nearest, after all, are those who might be able to fathom what might express as the inner burial of ourselves, but it rarely works out that way.

The fact that we are quite a a puzzle to ourselves undoubtedly has much to do with tie midjudgment and lack of understanding on the part of those with whom we are closest in contact. On the other hand, what opportunities we left fly past without even attempting to unbury the mystery, or perhaps the secret, to that one's personality.

Little keys often unlock great doors. Perhaps the little key of tact, of kindness in an unusual way or of some surprise deftly arranged, would open this big door to many a one long closed. One of the greatest and most important of all doors in this life is that of love. And ever since the world began it has taken but a tiny key to open it.

How tragic that this one door is so often kept closed to the one nearest and dearest. Isn't it worth the effort to put that little unused key to work?

George Matthew Adams was a newspaper columnist, author, and publisher. He founded the Adams Newspaper Service in 1907 and The Adams Feature Magazine in 1916.

Mr. Adams was born 1878 August 23 in Saline, Michigan and graduated from Ottawa University in Kansas. He received a Ph.B. from Ottawa University in 1901, and was an advertising salesman in turn-of-the-century Chicago.

He organized his own newspaper syndicate in 1907 and borrowed money to rent and equip an office and started the syndicate to provide copy for newspapers. His group of writers would include poet Edgar Guest and Robert Ripley.

In 1908, George Matthew Adams had hired William Allen White to write about political issues. Both met in Chicago. While talking, George showed William clippings of Walt Mason's daily shorts essays which George had been cutting from copies of a Gazette he encountered. Adams stated he liked those works and meant he'd like to syndicate them to other papers. White's remark was that that was possible. He hinted Adams to give about $18 a week to Walt Mason so the latter would be willing to work on such a project.

About that time, George Matthew Adams was selling Dr. Frank Crane's Four Minute Essays. Then, he lost Crane to a competitor. However, George didn't throw in the towel. As a matter of fact, a marvelous career as a writer started. George set to write short essays himself when he traveled from city to city selling his wares. In the 50s, Crane was all but forgotten, but George Matthew Adams' short inspirational columns appeared in about 100 newspapers.

Mr. Adams passed away on October 28, 1962 in his home at 4550 Livingstop Avenue, Riverdale, the Bronx. His age was 84. The syndicate, which Adams owned at the time of his death, served more than 100 newspapers all over the United States and Canada.

REFERENCES:

* The Palm Beach Post - Jul 16, 1939

* The Star and Sentinel - Aug 27, 1949

* The Day - May 17, 1954

* New York Times - Oct 29, 1962

* Ocala Star-Banner - Oct 29, 1962

* mondusaif.com/mondus/s09/guides/adams-george.html

* aaobserver.aadl.org/aaobserver/18633

We hope you enjoy this site devoted to share with the public the life and works of this great man: George Matthew Adams.

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Mr. George Matthew Adams

George Matthew Adams was a newspaper columnist, author, writer, philosopher and publisher who founded the Adams Newspaper Service in 1907. He is the author of several books and "You Can" is the most famous of his works.

Mr. Adams became a well-know columnist with his "Today's Talk" which was a kind of short essay he would write for sundry newspapers and had an inspirational appeal for the average American citizen of the time. His syndicate supplied features to many newspapers worldwide for more than fifty years.

Furthermore, it is known that Mr. Adams owned a collection of rare etchings and more than 5000 books, many of them first editions.

Mr. Adams on etchings:

"Etchings early appealed to me because of their intimate character. Some of them seem to have been etched from the heart."

Mr Adams on books:

"I walk all over many of the books I read. Anyone who comes across them after I am through with them will see my tracks. That is, my pencil tracks, which, in reality are the tracks of my mind at it travels through a book."

"I am certain that anything with the word book attached to it will ever be interesting and fascinating to me."

Dr. Frank Crane

"Most of the fear that spoils our life comes from attacking difficulties before we get to them."

Robert Lynd, Essayist

“One of the greatest joys known to man is to take a flight into ignorance in search of knowledge.”

James Allen

"A man is literally what he thinks."

William Feather, Author

"Few of us get anything without working for it."

Walt Mason wrote the introduction of "Up."

GEORGE MATTHEW ADAMS

QUOTES BY GEORGE MATTHEW ADAMS:

* He who does not get fun and enjoyment out of every day ... needs to reorganize his life.

* If you have nothing else to do, look about you and see if there isn't something close at hand that you can improve! It may make you wealthy, though it is more likely that it will make you happy.

* Note how good you feel after you have encouraged someone else. No other argument is necessary to suggest that never miss the opportunity to give encouragement.

* No matter what our ambition, that ambition must be fed, daily, without a break. Desires vanish quickly, unless they are fed.

* The hero becomes a hero because he put something into the world that we would like to have put there.

* We cannot waste time. We can only waste ourselves.

* Each day can be one of triumph if you keep up your interests.

* Just be yourself and you will not only be unique in a large way, but you will be an honest expression of a human being.

* Books express much of the personality of the author, so that we often feel we know him, in a rather intimate fashion.

* Devotion to the simple things of life, and to beauty, is what ennobles character and puts a glow to the very countenance. You can always tell from the smile of a person whether there is happiness imbedded in the heart.

* I WISH there were not so many unhappy people in the world. Cheerfulness is power and something that feeds the soul.

* Every human being should be free to choose his own way of life, and select his own sphere of influence, just as long as he does not encroach upon the same individual rights of his fellow man.

* It's what each of us shows, and how, that gives to us character and prestige. Seeds of kindness, goodwill, and human understanding, planted in fertile soil, spring up into deathless friendships, big deeds of worth, and a memory that will not soon fade.

* If love is the greatest thing in the world, then hate is the greatest evil, for hate is the opposite of love. Love attracts, hate repels. Love is life, hate is death. Hate is the worst waste that can enter a human soul.

* If newspapers printed nothing but news, the readers would be sour and depressed.

* It is fine to forgive and forget so far as in your power lies, but to be highly tuned to the receipt of beautiful words from a warm and understanding heart is to own one of the finest gifts God gives to human beings.

* He who understands does not resent. Resentment is the play of little minds.

* It is better to aim for Perfection and miss it, than to aim at Imperfection and hit it.

* Opportunity is kinder to folks than folks are to it. Is it in the cycle of events that a man should not be used too hard, but that chance after chance should be given him to prove his worth—only to allow him to fail after his mettle has proved too unworthy.

* Every one of us, unconsciously, works out a personal philosophy of life, by which we are guided, inspired, and corrected, as time goes on. It is this philosophy by which we measure out our days, and by which we advertise to all about us the man, or woman, that we are. . . . It takes but a brief time to scent the life philosophy of anyone. It is defined in the conversation, in the look of the eye, and in the general mien of the person. It has no hiding place. It's like the perfume of the flower — unseen, but known almost instantly. It is the possession of the successful, and the happy. And it can be greatly embellished by the absorption of ideas and experiences of the useful of this earth.

* Each day of your life, as soon as you open your eyes in the morning, you can square away for a happy and successful day. It's the mood and the purpose at the inception of each day that are the important facts in charting your course for the day. We can always square away for a fresh start, no matter what the past has been. It's today that is the paramount problem always. Yesterday is but history.